Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/257374
Opinion 25 maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 FEBRUARY 2014 hands of the killer by disrupting the work of the police. And this is turn illustrates precisely how unhelpful such 'theories' inevitably prove to be. That graffito constituted a vital piece of evidence. If it was indeed Jack who wrote it, he might have been identified from the handwriting (the killer subsequently wrote several letters to the police – one famously enclosing a half a human kidney preserved in wine): thus pre-emptively saving the lives of all his future victims. But the evidence was destroyed because, on balance, the police decided that the risk of public hysteria outweighed the exigencies of the investigation itself. A total of five very violent murders been 1880 and 1891 have been officially attributed to Jack the Ripper, and another six unsolved cases are also believed to be attributable either directly or indirectly (i.e., copycat murders) to the same killer. That's 11 human lives brutally cut short. As you can see, the price of such amateur and/ or deliberately misleading 'detective work' is invariably very high. Yet the anonymous graffito author of 1880 and today's equally semi-literate anti-Muslim blogger- detective both acted to exactly the same script… which is not in any way surprising, when you consider that human nature has not changed in any detail in the intervening 125 years. And it is a script we should seriously consider learning by heart, as it also makes sense of a number of otherwise entirely nonsensical patterns of behaviour: not all of which necessarily involve murders, animal cruelty or any type of crime whatsoever. So next time something happens in this country to cause widespread moral revulsion or indignation: just sit back comfortably with a large bucket of popcorn and enjoy the movie while it lasts. You will see how people who have undeclared political or ideological interests of their own will subtly or unsubtly manoeuvre themselves into position, with the distinct aim of manipulating this vast, formless mass of hostility and ill-feeling just like a maestro conducts an orchestra. You will note how the techniques they use are indistinguishable from those employed by the anti-Muslim blogger. They will capitalise on popular ignorance, random observations and collective suspicion, with a view to reinforcing existing prejudices and hopefully engendering new ones… all cynically aimed at conditioning public perceptions of any given situation, so that they mirror their own warped views of reality. And while the above attack on Malta's Muslim population is too obtuse and clumsy to ever be taken seriously, there are many cases where the same tactics are spectacularly effective. For the script to which they adhere also contains individual parts for all recipients of such blatant distortions: and a sizeable portion of the people exposed to such nonsense will take it on board, largely because it seems to vindicate their own equally skewed perceptions and personal prejudices. I have seen this same pattern unfold with tragic consequences in connection with Malta's mostly immigrant black community – including the widespread blanket assumption, in the absence of any proof, that an African murder victim was himself the aggressor, and that his white assailants were acting 'in self defence'. But I have seen it at work far more often (with admittedly less tragic consequences) in Maltese politics. You will surely have noticed how similar orchestrated efforts are constantly made to associate anything that can be construed as 'embarrassing' to the country with the fact that it is currently being administered by a Labour government. You may also have noticed – depending how far you actually buy into this sort of thing – how such tactics invariably prey on existing prejudices and absurd generalisations. Just as all Muslims are portrayed as being inherently sadistic and violent, capable only of vile and despicable deeds, so too are all Laburisti often portrayed as… well… 'hamalli'. Chavs. Incapable of not actually embarrassing themselves and us at every single opportunity, because that is all their collective lack of education and finesse can ever translate into. And no, it is hardly consoling to see exactly the same prejudices at work across the political divide: in which case it's the Nationalists who are suddenly all inherently corrupt, arrogant and insensitive to the plight of lesser mortals, etc. It is even less reassuring to observe the exact same script play itself out in so many other instances, too. I have seen (and directly experienced) a growing trend whereby secularists are blamed for a perceived 'collapse' in the moral fabric of Western civilisation… though I have yet to see evidence that this fabric ever collapsed, or that is was ever very 'moral' to begin with. Likewise I have seen the Church held responsible for all cases of child abuse, bar none; and I have even seen Arriva buses blamed for Malta's current traffic chaos… mostly by people grumbling at the wheel of their own private vehicles, even as they contribute to the same traffic chaos themselves. So like I said: sit back and enjoy the show. Just make sure you stock up on an infinite quantity of popcorn… because unlike any Hollywood production I have ever seen or heard of, this one never reaches 'The End'. The price of amateur and/or deliberately misleading 'detective work' is invariably very high